Limitat Concentration Control For Consumer Welfare Standards

Concentration of undertakings shall mean the combination of economic activities between undertakings for which there is no relationship of control.The application of consumer welfare standards means that a concentration of business operators mainly consists of consumer surplus with consumer’s right to choose as a supplementary evaluation index to be reviewed and decided.At present,in the background of Sino-US trade war and domestic overcapacity,China pays more attention to the role of consumption-driven economic growth,but the anti-monopoly law and the concentration of operators are in the state of lack of consumer welfare standards.Economic efficiency standards can not protect the interests of consumers,but make the instinct of enterprises to pursue profit to accelerate expansion.Single consumer surplus can not be used in bilateral markets without price as the main competitive factor.Consumer choice alone can not be used as the standard of consumer welfare,so both of them must be combined.The prominent problems with the review of concentration of undertakings in China include lack of consumer welfare standards: the single turnover standard in the declaration system for concentration of undertakings;unclear exemption reasons and legal provisions with restrictive conditions in the exemption system for concentration of undertakings,ignoring consumer welfare;insufficient guarantee for the consumer right to know and participation right in the review system for concentration of undertakings.Therefore,this paper suggests clarifying consumer welfare standards in the system of concentration of business operators,the efficiency of the declaration link is the basis for the application of consumer welfare standards in the substantive review,and diversified indicators shall be adopted according to the characteristics of different industries.Secondly,the design of the exemption system shall be oriented towards consumer welfare in more detail,and consumer representatives are allowed to give suggestions on the reasons for exemption and the restrictive conditions.Thirdly,the procedure should pay special attention to the protection of consumers’ right to knowand to participate.Only by applying consumer welfare standards and raising the awareness of business operators’ responsibility for safeguarding consumers’ interests can the business operator concentration system give play to its role,namely,optimizing the industrial structure,preventing bad money from driving out good money,stimulating internal drive,stimulating innovation and providing consumers with quality products and services.Only in this way can business environment be optimized,international business standards be benchmarked,foreign investment be attracted,confidence of domestic operators be increased,consumption be promoted to drive economic growth and economic prosperity be realized.